The Destination Southwest Nova association recently met with 40 tourism industry stakeholders at a strategy meeting held at the Annapolis Basin Conference Centre to determine solutions to sustain and grow tourism in light of the loss of The Cat ferry service to Yarmouth from Maine.
President of DSWNA, Dan Myers, was pleased with the turnout at and said he is “confident that the input and direction from industry will help position the region to grow visitation and the economy and offset the impact from the loss of the ferry service.”
Operators agreed to focus on realistic priorities that all tourism operators in the region can work to accomplish in the next three to six months. Priorities will include:
- Read more special articles :
- - No ferry for Yarmouth in 2011
- - Rodd hopes closure is not permanent
- - "We need a boat"
- - Rodd closing Colony Harbour Inn
•Creating awareness of alternate transportation links to Nova Scotia by promotions at trade shows, print pieces, online advertising, and radio campaigns.
•Experiential familiarization tours to re-educate and introduce front line tourism staff to the experiences in the region so that they are uniquely knowledgeable and able to encourage visitors to stay longer in the region.
Moreover, they agreed to target the growing New Brunswick and Halifax markets and work with the CAA/AAA, as well as utilize trendy social media – highlighting key experiences and hidden gems.
